Different designations and sources of common saturated fatty acids and derivatives (ester and acyl radical) in nature
| Chain length . | Trivial namea . | IUPAC systematic nameb . | Shorthand notation . | Occurrence . |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Butyr- | Butano- | 4:0 | Dairy fat |
| Capro- | Hexaeno- | 6:0 | Dairy fat | |
| Medium | Capryl- | Octano- | 8:0 | Minor in most animals and plants and major in dairy fat, coconut, palm kernel oils |
| Capr-c | Decano- | 10:0 | Widespread as a minor component, major component in dairy fat, coconut, palm kernel oils | |
| Laur- | Dodecano- | 12:0 | Widely distributed, major component of coconut, palm kernel oils | |
| Long | Myrist- | Tetradecano- | 14:0 | Widespread, occasionally found as a major component (e.g. nutmeg) |
| Palmit- | Hexadecano- | 16:0 | Most common saturated fatty acid in animals, plants and microorganisms. Major component in palm oil | |
| Stear- | Octadecano- | 18:0 | Major fatty acid in animals and some fungi, minor component in plants (but predominant in some, such as cocoa butter) | |
| Arachid- | Icosano-d | 20:0 | Widespread as a minor component, occasionally a major component (e.g. groundnut) | |
| Very long | Behen- | Docosano- | 22:0 | Fairly widespread as minor component in seed oils and plant waxes |
| Lignocer- | Tetracosano- | 24:0 | Reasonably widespread as minor component in seed oils and plant waxes | |
| Cerot- | Hexacosano- | 26:0 | Widespread in plant and insect waxes (beeswax and carnauba wax). Also found in some bacterial lipids | |
| Montan- | Octacosano- | 28:0 | Major component of plant waxes (e.g. Montan wax and insect Chinese wax) |
| Chain length . | Trivial namea . | IUPAC systematic nameb . | Shorthand notation . | Occurrence . |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Butyr- | Butano- | 4:0 | Dairy fat |
| Capro- | Hexaeno- | 6:0 | Dairy fat | |
| Medium | Capryl- | Octano- | 8:0 | Minor in most animals and plants and major in dairy fat, coconut, palm kernel oils |
| Capr-c | Decano- | 10:0 | Widespread as a minor component, major component in dairy fat, coconut, palm kernel oils | |
| Laur- | Dodecano- | 12:0 | Widely distributed, major component of coconut, palm kernel oils | |
| Long | Myrist- | Tetradecano- | 14:0 | Widespread, occasionally found as a major component (e.g. nutmeg) |
| Palmit- | Hexadecano- | 16:0 | Most common saturated fatty acid in animals, plants and microorganisms. Major component in palm oil | |
| Stear- | Octadecano- | 18:0 | Major fatty acid in animals and some fungi, minor component in plants (but predominant in some, such as cocoa butter) | |
| Arachid- | Icosano-d | 20:0 | Widespread as a minor component, occasionally a major component (e.g. groundnut) | |
| Very long | Behen- | Docosano- | 22:0 | Fairly widespread as minor component in seed oils and plant waxes |
| Lignocer- | Tetracosano- | 24:0 | Reasonably widespread as minor component in seed oils and plant waxes | |
| Cerot- | Hexacosano- | 26:0 | Widespread in plant and insect waxes (beeswax and carnauba wax). Also found in some bacterial lipids | |
| Montan- | Octacosano- | 28:0 | Major component of plant waxes (e.g. Montan wax and insect Chinese wax) |
Ending in ‘-ic’, ‘-ate’ or ‘-oyl’ for acid, salt or ester, or acyl radical, respectively.
Ending in ‘-ic’, ‘-ate’ or ‘-yl’ for acid, salt or ester, or acyl radical, respectively.
Not recommended because of confusion with caproic (hexanoic) and caprylic (octanoic) acids. Decanoic is preferred.
Formerly ‘eicosa’ (changed by IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, 1975).